The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the final report of the National Conference as a first step towards implementing its recommendations .
Council’s stand was made known to journalists during the post FEC briefing by the outgoing supervising Minister of Information Edem Duke, alongside the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Pius Anyim Pius.
Anyim said the approval was the first leg taken by government towards implementing recommendations made by the National Conference.
He said the the conference had come up with modalities for implementing their resolutions or recommendations, and Council during its meeting approved that the modalities be adopted.
Jonathan had in September 2014 shortly after the end of the national conference approved the composition of a Presidential Committee to study and draw up the implementation strategy.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke (SAN), chaired the committee while Anyim was the Secretary. Other members of the committee had included the Minister of Transport, Idris Umar; Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda; Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory Administration, Olajumoke Akinjide and Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen.
The committee’s terms of reference of the committee had included studying the Report of the 2014 National Conference; articulating the recommendations therein and developing appropriate strategies for its implementation and advising the Federal Government on all matters necessary for the effective implementation of the Report.
Still speaking Anyim said the committee looked at the recommendations and advised the president that “they were implementable”.
“You would have heard the president promising severally that he is going to implement the recommendations of the conference. So, the report coming to the council today is the first leg of taking concrete steps towards implementing the recommendations and resolutions of the conference” he said.
The SGF also said according to the approval given by the FEC, the implementations will be done in two phases : recommendations that have implications on constitutional amendment or enactment of new laws, will be compiled by the attorney general who will vet them for onward transmission to the national assembly for enactment into law.
“So we expect that in the nearest future, the attorney general would have concluded work on them and they will be forwarded by the president to the National Assembly “.
The second phase will see that all recommendations that have to do with policy matters and those recommendations necessarily for implementation by either federal agencies or state agencies or local government areas, be referred to the agencies for immediate implementation.
On other matters that require legal issues, “for instance where it concerns constitutional amendment, it is not really the responsibility of the national assembly alone. They have to work with the state assemblies in bringing effect to this. So, today, we are taking steps towards implementing the resolutions of the national conference and we believe that the vision of mr president in setting up the conference and the wonderful work done by eminent Nigerians who attended the conference in producing the report, the resolutions and recommendations, we would be giving consideration and we believe our country will benefit immensely from the work of this conference,” he said.
